Handstitched

' Thor & Zeus got together for a one night stand. Thor gets up in the morning proclaiming his sexual ' prowess' . " I-am-Thor !! " " You're thor !! How do you think how I feel ?? " replied Zeus HS (C'mon @Northmount your turn, you started this )

' A nun in a convent that has taken up a vow of silence, is given dispensation by the Mother Superior every Christmas to speak a few words. " Sister, have you anything to say? says Mother Superior . '"Yes, my one of my sandals has broken , I'd like a new one. Another year passes " Have you anything to say?" " Yes, the nights have grown colder, I'd like an extra blanket please " Another year passes, " have you anything to say? " yes, my robe is getting thin...." " Sister!! says Mother Superior, in the past three years, have you got anything better to say , because all you've done is whinge , whinge , whinge !! " HS

A piece of of history went up in smoke in ' Elizabeth NJ' " ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Over 100 firefighters battled a blaze Friday at a New Jersey industrial park that was home to the Singer Sewing Machine factory for more than a century." https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/new-jersey-firefighters-battle-4-alarm-blaze-former-106131415 Thankfully no-one was in the building HS

' A bloke goes into a pub, sits down at the bar and orders a pint. ' Would you like anything to eat?' says the barman. The bloke looks at the menu and says , yes I'll have the ploughmans lunch please' . Here you are sir. A voice yells out , in a Somerset accent,, " 'ere , who too took moi lunch ?? ' HS

Just search for shoe polish recipes , or ' how shoe polish was made' . Just don't go for ' Mrs Beetons' shoe polish, it will most likely kill you as it contains sulfuric acid. HS

Will do The ones I saw quite a while ago , the wood was a mess almost completely rotten in some places. . It was case of ' head v's heart v's bank account ' Some more will come up one day no doubt. HS

Ours minds are truly aligned friend . Something I've been doing for quite a while. It helps to fill in any imperfections along the edge after sanding. I try to use up the old hard bits in the tin . I don't use any sealer after application , I just use a lot of the ol' elbow grease to get a nice shine. When doing multiples, the less work the better. HS

Theres something very satisfying about bellows. Great job on that, and ' repurposing' materials too I enjoy restoring them . Got another on the bench atm , to be started . On my bucket list is to restore some black smith bellows, nearly did a while ago, I had my eye on them, but they were a bit too far gone. HS

That machine looks weird. The amount of time money and effort gone into that could have gone towards a decent leather machine. HS

A bit off topic, in amongst some leather stuff I was given, was a jar of home made 'leather dressing' , mostly made out of pig fat a bit of wax , I opened it up , OMG the smell was putrid, I threw it out HS

My first thought that went through my head, it would be totally impractical here in Oz, too hot and heavy . The only other thought I had was , many years ago, I was contemplating using Possum skins in my leather products. But then as chance would have it, a customer, from New Zealand, came to my stall and we got talking. She makes Possum skin products, she made a bed spread all out of Possum skins and it was beautifully soft and warm, bit cold in NZ I'm guessing . Possums are native to Australia , but a pest in NZ. Cheap in NZ, but cost restrictive in Oz. ( they're welcome to our Cane Toads , lol ) Anyway, as I've never made a leather bed spread, perhaps make a template of the bed, to make a rectangle shape of the bed, and perhaps use a soft fabric lining on the inside. Or you could just keep the natural shape and neaten up the edges, but I'd still be using a soft fabric lining. Sewing it on will be interesting . I can't think of how else you could do it. HS

Its been difficult year for some of us, so lets hope that 2024 brings us all good cheer and new creative ideas . Hope you all and the mods and the good peeps on here and your families have a safe and Happy New Year HS

Hand made gifts are the best HS

I think I saw something similar on here before. Thats brilliant Adding wood opens up a lot of new creative opportunities . HS

I've never heard of that , but it does sound tasty, it also reminds me of damper, ' bush bread' I call it, just flour & water made into a patty shape-ish normally cooked on open coals, but best in tin foil. ' Hot country gravy, fried eggs an bacon ', I can imagine combining the two, OMG Heres a few pics of those sausage rolls that I made before Christmas. They are nowhere near as good as my Mothers, she made them perfect shape, but just as yummo . They can be made as big or as small as you like, eaten with any sauce you like. . These are a bit over bite size, but once you're had a few they do fill your belly. The uncooked ones can be frozen for later .Thawed, brush with a bit of milk , cook at 180c for about 20-30 mins. The fruit mince pies were frozen from last year, still tasted great, but leaked a bit. HS

I think theres also ' pizza vending machines' What will they think of next? I have this simple box in my kitchen with knobs on, its called an oven LOL , but hardly ' portable' On a foodie program here in Oz I was watching( love cooking shows) , it was in Japan, a bloke in a local park , ( for the Cherry Festival I think) he had takeaway food in a container. He pulled out a cord from the side, and it automatically heat the food up inside the container...wha....? It was ribs and rice from memory , with a sachet of soy sauce. The technology may be similar to heat packs like those used in hospitals , camping etc. Look damn tasty too ! HS

Thats often the issue I have sewing thick leather , mis-alignment . Glad I'm not the only one that uses needles to align holes. I often do that when re-stitching, repairing etc. Great read . Love to see the end result HS

Watching the world outside kinda ruins my day, instead, I get enjoyment from watching Mother Nature do her thing outside and coming on here and see all the creative minds come together HS

After using mine as a barby a few times , I had to strip the whole thing down to clean it ( its that red thing I posted earlier, above) What a f*ing nightmare !!! Up to my a....se in grease !! They are never to be used as a BBQ , and I never will again. Its going into the shed soon, I've hardly ever used it as a pizza oven, perhaps once or twice , and I could never get the temperature right and pretty much burn the damn pizza. Into the shed it goes and stays. I went back to using my ol' faithful barby that I bought back in the 90's , all cast iron plates and burners, looks rough now, and not too many years left in it , but does a dam good steak HS

If its what I'm thinking of, rough on both sides, I have used ( thin) splits as lining on some projects. I also made my workshop apron out of some. Not much good for too much else. HS

Sorry to say friend , you won't . Its not just the 2nd & 3rd strand, its also the rest of it you need to flip...through and through again..... . It may have been better to do that on a separate piece and sew it on after, but even then you may still have some "difficulties" Put it down, for now, and have a great Christmas HS

I'm still using the ' ye olde' Al Stohlman method of molding, works every time , and where the pins are, the marks disappear when it all gets dyed and sewn , simple. I don't use a ' bone folder ' I just use a large 5-6mm ' D' ring .The ' corner ' on the D ring comes in handy too Here we have no choice but to have a land line, the mobile phone service sometimes cuts out when theres strong winds or a storm , thats the time when you may need a phone. HS

Quite often, theres already info on all sorts of machines on here. Hope it helps HS

This will be my first Christmas without my best friend, my Mum. However, I do have a lot of friends and support, both locally and the many friends I have made at our regular markets , and not forgetting the good peeps on here May the New Year bring you new creative ideas. Merry Christmas HS

Not sure what my dog would do if a intruder got in, ask them to play with her toy bone and scratch her belly I guess , but she does let us know when someone is coming on the property , all hell breaks loose , as annoying as it can be at times , its a good thing. I've often said that there are two seasons here in Oz, ' alive & dead' , lol Yeh, I like the Ol Ford HS